I have made their widows more in number is more literally “Their widows are increased in number to me.” The causative force of the verb, as found in Revised Standard Version, is based upon the two causative verbs that follow (I have brought … I have made). Thus Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “I allowed more women to become widows.” It is also possible to take the verb in an impersonal sense: “There are more widows in your land” (Good News Translation). Interestingly, unlike Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version also accepts this interpretation with “Their widows became more numerous.”

The sand of the seas and the stars in the sky were considered past counting by the ancient Hebrews, and were often used in comparisons. As in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, rather than counting sand, many languages are more likely to count the grains of sand along the shore of the sea.

I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer is the interpretation followed by most translations. According to this interpretation, the persons killed are the young warriors of Israel: “On the mother of young warriors I bring the destroyer…” (New Jerusalem Bible). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests a second possible interpretation: “I will bring young warriors to kill [helpless] widows [whose sons have already been killed in battle].” We should note, however, that this interpretation is apparently not followed by any of the major translations. A common fault in translating this verse is to make it seem that a destroyer attacks the mothers, whereas the idea is that just as there are many women who become widows because their husbands are killed, so also there are women who lose their sons. Good News Translation handles this very well with “I killed your young men … and made their mothers suffer.” I have brought … a destroyer may need to be expressed as “I killed,” as in Good News Translation, or as “I sent an enemy to kill.”

At noonday is taken by the majority of translations to indicate an unexpected time (see 6.4). However, the phrase may mean “in their prime” (Good News Translation), with reference to the young warriors.

This is the only place in the Old Testament where the noun anguish is used for certain, though some assume it is also found in Hos 11.9.

The noun translated terror is found elsewhere in the Old Testament only in Lev 26.16; Psa 78.33; Isa 65.23. It is derived from the same Hebrew root as the verb rendered “are in panic” by Revised Standard Version in 51.32.

In many languages it is not natural to say that anguish and terror come down. Rather, translators might say something like “I made them to suddenly experience great anguish [or, suffering] and to be terrified” or “I caused them to suddenly be in great pain, and to be greatly afraid.” Terror is a universal experience, and many translators will be able to use idioms from their language which express it. Some Pacific languages, for example, would say “trouble [or, suffering] catches them.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .